Agencies using lump-sum payments, early retirement program to cut federal workers
March 13 is due date to submit prepare for large-scale layoffs
Workers would receive buyout payment of approximately $25,000
*
Buyout program less susceptible to legal challenge
By Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid, Marisa Taylor and Nathan Layne
March 11 (Reuters) - Multiple federal government firms are turning to early retirement programs to minimize headcount as they scramble to satisfy President Donald Trump's Thursday deadline for them to submit plans for a 2nd round of mass layoffs.
The Office of Personnel Management, the Social Security Administration, and the Department of Health and Human Services, including its Food and Drug Administration, are among the agencies which have used lump-sum payments of up to $25,000 before tax to workers who consent to leave their jobs.
The buyout provides, combined with another program that alleviates eligibility requirements for early retirement, are being embraced as a lower-friction method to assist fulfill the Thursday due date, personnel professionals at several federal agencies told Reuters.
The Trump administration has actually been grappling with myriad lawsuits after it fired thousands of probationary workers in a very first wave of mass layoffs and took apart entire departments like USAID, the U.S. humanitarian help firm, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which secures Americans versus unscrupulous lending institutions.
All U.S. government agencies have actually been purchased to come up with massive layoff strategies by Thursday as part of Trump's unprecedented campaign to overhaul the federal government. One of his leading advisers, the tech billionaire Elon Musk, is leading that effort with his so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
The General Services Administration, which handles the federal government's home portfolio, is also seeking approval to offer the buyout payments to workers, according to an email sent out by its acting head to personnel on Monday and seen by Reuters. The Securities and Exchange Commission has actually currently used benefits of approximately $50,000, Reuters reported.
Personnel and public governance professionals stated the appeal of the buyout program, called voluntary separation incentive payments, is that it is voluntary and less vulnerable to legal challenges. It likewise needs employees who have accepted the deal to pay back the cash if they take another government job within five years.
"If your technique is to get as lots of people out the door voluntarily, that minimizes the threat of court orders and opposition to you in the long run," stated Don Moynihan, a public law professor at the University of Michigan.
OPM STILL WAITING FOR PLANS
Only a couple of firms have actually telegraphed by means of media leaks how many employees they plan to cut in the second stage of layoffs. They consist of the Department of Veterans Affairs, which is aiming to cut more than 80,000 workers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which is preparing to cut 1,029 personnel.
Despite the looming due date, no company has yet sent its job-cutting strategy to OPM, the government's human resources department that is collecting the information, a person knowledgeable about the matter told Reuters. OPM declined to comment.
OPM itself has actually provided lump-sum payments to some 650 OPM staff members, according to another individual with knowledge of the matter. Employees were offered up until March 12 to respond.
At the General Services Administration, staff members were notified on Monday that OPM had actually greenlit a strategy to use an early retirement program to all qualified workers.
"I encourage each of you to consider your alternatives as we progress," GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian wrote in an email seen by Reuters. "The brand-new GSA will be slimmer, more efficient and laser-focused on effectiveness and high-value outcomes."
On March 10, the HR department of the Fda sent out an email to all its 19,000 workers announcing a Friday, March 14, deadline to choose into a VSIP. Those who accept would have to retire by April 19.
"There will be no extensions," mentions the email, reviewed by Reuters and signed by Tania Tse, director of the FDA's Office of Human Capital Management.
Late on Monday, HHS sweetened its previous VSIP offer by including that employees accepting it would get two months of complete pay in addition to the reward, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters.
Steve Lenkart, executive director of the National Federation of Federal Employees, a union which represents 110,000 government workers, stated the Trump administration was utilizing "a genuine program to additional damage the abilities of companies to complete their mission."
OPM decreased to react to Lenkart's comments. (Reporting by Alexandra Alper, Tim Reid, Marisa Taylor and Nathan Layne; Editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)
